Have you ever heard of or tried Walking Meditation?
If you are new to meditation, you may not have ever heard of walking meditation. For me, I meditated for about 6 or 7 years before I ever heard or tried a walking meditation.
When you think about meditation, you may automatically picture yourself sitting down, but meditating while walking is another useful option.
What I have found is walking meditation is a great way to add a physical activity to your meditation practice.
I was introduced to walking meditation via my local Sangha (a Buddhist meditation community). For the first 3 years I only did walking meditation with my Sangha. I loved it! For some reason I treated walking meditation like something special that I only did with my meditation group.
For years though I read books by Thich Nhat Hanh and he talks about walking a lot. Towards the end of his life and especially after his death I started adding walking meditation to my regular practice. I found doing walking meditation was a great addition to my other mindfulness practices.
Consider these benefits of walking meditation and suggestions for how to get started.
Benefits of Walking Meditation
1. Learn Another Meditation Technique
I am of the belief that trying different kind of meditations helps you find what works best for you or what can serve you in different capacities or solutions.
For example, if you are drowsy and falling asleep during your typical meditation – walking can help. If your leg is falling asleep while sitting – get up and move. Do a walking meditation.
Walking meditation is a common variation that you’re likely to encounter at many retreat centers. By getting acquainted with this method, you’ll be ready to join in.
The photo below of the stream is actually from one of my walking meditations at the meditation retreat I attended in April. I do recommend adding this meditation to your bag of tricks, it’s a wonderful addition.
2. Get Off to a Good Start with Your Meditation Practice
Beginners may find it uncomfortable to sit for long periods. Taking a stroll provides a different approach to launching a meditation practice.
Take it slow. Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you. Feel the wind in your hair (or beard if you’re like me. I love a good breeze blowing the beard.). Take in the Vitamin D and enjoy the sun warming up your face.
This practice can truly help you practice awareness in many different ways which makes it not only fun, but also a powerful mindfulness meditation practice.
3. New Way to Reduce Typical Meditation Agitation
When stress builds up, you may prefer to keep moving around. Rather than skipping a session completely, just stay on your feet and walk it out so to speak.
Walking meditation is a great alternative when things are feeling out of sorts via typical meditation practices (sitting meditation)
4. Manage Fatigue
It’s easy to nod off if you were up all night finishing a report, or nursing a sick child, or missing sleep for whatever reason. Remaining erect is likely to keep you more alert until you can get the rest you need. It is hard to fall asleep when you are walking.
I will say if you are extremely fatigued, be careful, and honestly if you are extremely fatigued maybe it is best to do a sleeping meditation or deep relaxation with the goal to get back on track with your sleep.
If you body is fatigued or in pain from long sitting, walking meditation might help you get your body the blood flow and ease it needs.
5. Exercise More & Get Active
Meditation can be good for your body as well as your mind. Every bit of physical activity counts when it comes to staying fit. A walking meditation of 15 minutes to an hour is a gentle, but effective, workout.
Getting consistent with your walking meditation, like 3 times a week, walking 15-20 minute per session could really help you hit your daily footstep goals we all seem to have on our smartphones.
Being that I have NOT been moving too much over the last decade because I work at home and because of the pandemic, I just wasn’t getting in my typical healthy footsteps, let alone a good workout regularly. Walking meditation did help me start getting active again.
Sometimes, even a little activity and gentle activity is enough to get the ball rolling making other things easy to build on this momentum. It did for me.
I now do small practices fairly commonly, but it lead to me biking 3-4 times a week and now doing Yoga and Tai Chi through the week to add more activity and exercise to the mix. It all started with walking for me.
One last note on this topic… the beauty of walking meditation is you can do it anywhere. Inside or outside. You can always do it if you are out of town on a trip. Like your breath, walking should always be available which makes this another powerful tool in the meditation tool belt.
6. Integrate Mindfulness into Ordinary Activities
One purpose of meditation is to develop a clearer mind that you can rely on all day long. When you get used to walking while meditating, you’ll become more skilled at generating positive thoughts in any setting.
Can I let you in on a little secret?
Meditation is a practice that as you build it into a habit over time and as you get more consistent it slowly starts to become your identity. It is just something you do daily.
And with time it starts moving from a daily formal sit for 15 minutes to being mindful while washing the dishes or answering the phone or driving in traffic.
Walking meditation is a great primer to transition from meditating to mindfully doing any and all ordinary activities in your life. This is where the real benefits start kicking in. It is pretty amazing.
How to Practice Walking Meditation
1. Create a Path
Lay out a route for yourself. You could walk around your living room or visit a local park. If you stick to an area you know well, it will be easier to minimize distractions.
When I first learned walking meditation, I learned at a location that had an outside labyrinth to walk so it was easy to just follow the path laid out for me. See the photo of my first path for my early walking meditation practices.
Then over time our meditation group had fuller class meetings and the church we met at also had some property with trees and wildflowers so I would sometimes just go walking alone for a little more room. I didn’t have a path er se, but just a general area to walk around in.
Then when I decided to start doing walking meditation at home, I would just do two slow laps around my backyard. This wasn’t a formal path, but an informal circle around the whole backyard which was very easy for me.
2. Focus on Your Feet & Surroundings
Start out by noticing each step. Over time, you’ll become more aware of the many individual movements involved. Imagine that your soles are caressing the earth, or as Thich Nhat Hanh says… kissing the earth.
Through this practice, be aware of the wind on your face or body, the smells in the air, the sun or lack of sun, the sounds of the birds or wind chimes or anything else around you, the sights of the trees, plants, animals or other things around you.
I like my walking meditation to open me up to all my senses and as a way to connect deeper with the world and with myself.
Below is some wild flowers at my Sangha and the field I sometimes do my walking meditation. Enjoy the beauty of the practice and being aware of your surroundings. Not only to NOT trip and fall but also because there is beauty around everywhere.
3. Pace Yourself
Most people find that a slower pace is conducive to becoming more deliberate and attentive. You may want to start out walking the way you usually do and gradually ease up.
I like to start with my left foot and as I take this first step I breathe in. Then I move to my right foot and as I slowly make my step, I breathe out. I like when my breath is connected to my footsteps.
I do not always do this rhythm, but I think it can really help to be present with the body, your breath and the practice.
Find a pace that works best for you.
4. Lower Your Eyes
Try keeping your eyes half shut and softly aimed at the ground a couple of feet ahead of you. If you’re in a spot where there are too many obstacles to do this, relax and enjoy the scenery.
5. Position Your Arms
Lower your shoulders and let your arms hang easily along the side of your body.
If you want to try a different position, clasp your hands gently in front of your lower abdomen or maybe clasp your hands behind your lower back. I sometimes like to clasp my hands like this behind my back.
6. Welcome a Smile to Your Face
7. Quiet Down
Leave your earphones at home. Put aside your plans for the evening. Observe the stillness in your mind.
In all honesty, I do use my headphones from time to time listening to music, audiobooks, or guided meditations, however, I always recommend doing meditations without all this stuff as well.
It is easy to just be without all that stuff and really commit to solo-tasking (doing one thing only instead of multitasking) while walking and just being present in this very moment.
8. Take Full Breaths
Breathe deeply from your diaphragm. Feel your abdomen rise and fall. Gradually synchronize your footsteps and your breath in whatever pattern is natural and sustainable.
Some people recommend taking 3-4 steps in each breath. For me, I like 1 breath to 1 step, but see what works for you when you take your full breath in and exhale fully.
9. Prepare for Sitting Meditation
Walking meditation is an ideal transition to a sitting meditation. A brief walking meditation session will help you clear your head and dissolve tension in your body so you can concentrate better.
Walking meditation is also great for stretching a bit if you are doing multiple meditations. During the retreat I went to last month, we did walking meditations between sitting meditations and other sessions as a way to free the body a bit for our next group of sits or sessions.
10. Alternate Between Walking and Sitting
Another good use for walking meditation is to make it a supplement to your sitting practice. If your foot gets a cramp or you just want to move around, meditating on your feet will help you extend your practice time.
I have been recently struggling with leg cramps for the first time. Walking meditation can help here. Just get up and turn your sit into a walking meditation.
I will also share that for me and my recent experience of getting dead leg in my sits, I found that a firmer and taller yoga bolster cushion works a little better than my typical cushion.
Again, this is always an ongoing practice and experiment to find what helps you have a good experience. I might also suggest being aware of any cramp or other feeling that arrises. What is this telling you? Is your body trying to tell you something?
If you are building a longer practice day or an at home meditation retreat type experience, walking meditation is always a great addition and can help you have better sittings. Give it a try!
Does It Work?
I tried to cover many reasons how or why walking meditation might work great for certain situations. I do believe it works as well as any other form of meditation.
In this TED Talk Sister True Dedication talks about how walking meditation could even help to solve global warming. Have a watch and check out the wisdom she shares related to NOT just reflecting on questions but also how walking meditation can solve bigger world problems.
Final Thoughts…
Diversify your practice by meditating while walking. It will help you apply mindfulness to more of your daily routine so that you can enjoy greater peace and contentment.
I have found that walking meditation really is enjoyable and has been a great addition to my own practice. I hope it serves you well as well.
I like trying different types of meditations and exploring what will serve me best. Have an open mind and explore what serve you best.
Great article! Very informative and practical!
Thank you, Tony! I appreciate you reading, sharing, and “liking” all my articles and posts. I truly appreciate your ongoing support. I have learned much from you about mindfulness and Buddhist practices. It is an honor having you as a friend and you taking time to read and even more special to have you comment on this article. Thank you, my dear friend.